A moment of pathetic self-congratulation
As many of my friends know, I have foresaken my XBOX 360 for reading, television, my podcast and other pursuits. But I still sometimes crack out my Nintendo DS from time to time.
Lately, I’ve been playing Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, sequel to the long-running Famicon Wars turn-based strategy franchise. What’s unique about the new game in the series is that it’s online — so I’ve been battling it out with players around the world a couple nights a week.
Tonight, I played a match against a Japanese player. To say that Japanese players are intimidating is an understatement — these guys know the game inside out. They understand how the units work, they move them in tight formations informed by Sun Tzu’s art of war, and generally they crush lesser mortals like myself with their insane Otaku knowledge of the game.
For all intents and purposes, he was a superior player. He used his units with bold intelligence, and he made short work of my lame expeditionary force. However, I managed to draw him into a prolonged fight with my main force at my base. Here is where his tactics fell apart — afraid of my heavier firepower, he kept his infantry well behind his armor and artillery, meaning that it would be a slow walk to capture my headquarters. Meanwhile, I sent a lone soldier in a transport behind his lines to his base. He could have gone after the transport, but he was too concerned with the remanants of my main force, who were dying in considerable numbers, but would have taken out his artillery if he turned to pursue my transport.
Before he knew it, I’d dropped a lone infantry-man off at his undefended headquarters and proceeded to capture his base. In two rounds, the game was over. I’d lost over 98% of my units, but I still kicked his ass. It was a cheap win — I’d been outclassed on the battlefield, but I’d managed to use his overconfidence and hubris against him.
I’ve largely given up playing FPS games, but strategy games still capture my attention. There’s something very satisfying about going one-on-one with someone in a game totally dependent on tactics and planning that you just don’t get with first person shooters. It’s a lot like playing chess as a kid — winning against a good player is an unmatched experience.
Beating a superior Japanese player in Advance Wars is even better than winning at chess.
Of course, I can’t help thinking what a lousy general I’d make. I won, but I lost almost all my troops. It’s a good thing I never joined the Army.
1 Comment
Other Links to this Post
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
By James DiBenedetto, February 21, 2008 @ 9:35 am
Have you ever read “Ender’s Game”? Sounds like you emulated one of Ender’s tactics. Always remember, the enemy’s gate is down!